Show some courage, Kane County Board
Shameful! That's the word that comes to mind over the recent votes of the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals and Kane County Development Committee.
How else can I feel when I see our officials demonstrate a lack of courage by opposing an enterprise dedicated to helping people in need? If the Kane County Board lacks courage, the facility in question will be vacant for the foreseeable future. Shameful, I say!
A few years ago, a local resident with deep pockets funded a smear campaign against KIVA, a similar addiction treatment facility. The insane rhetoric was full of exaggerated catastrophes, discrimination against addicts, and fear.
Shamefully, a few residents and some members of the Village of Campton Hills Board of Trustees were taken in by this nonsense. It was hard to watch. Eventually, the desire to be re-elected dominated the sad decisions of four trustees, and KIVA was defeated.
As a result, the buildings remain vacant, vandalism has occurred, Campton Hills lost $350,000 per year to its operating budget, Kane County lost an estimated $335,000 per year in tax revenues, roughly 50 people have not been hired at a cost to the area of $2,500,000 per year, my estimate, in salary, most of it spent locally; roughly 400 addicts per year, my estimate, have not been treated, and the area remains a very difficult place to do business.
What a shame.
Is it possible that the Kane County Board will demonstrate courage and put an end to this nonsense and do the right thing by approving it? Might they follow the lead of the Village of Campton Hills Zoning Board, two Campton Hills Trustees and three members of the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals? These people got it right.
John S. Strauss
Campton Hills